


Beginnings Are Always Hard

by redheadgurl



Series: The Tales Of Maria Stane [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel
Genre: Drama, Family, Family Drama, Father-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:40:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29095920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redheadgurl/pseuds/redheadgurl
Summary: Alternate AU to IronManTony Stark has a secret. He really has a 16 old daughter named Maria being raised happily by Obadiah Stane and his wife Rosie. However things will soon have to change after a routine visit to Afghanistan. How will this change the course of her life, and will she happily go along with it?Hoping to build a future story along with Bucky Barnes.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Tales Of Maria Stane [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2134731
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	Beginnings Are Always Hard

Maria Stane sat finishing up the breakfast her aunt Rosie made for her. She always liked these quiet times in the morning with her aunt Rosie. Her aunt Rosie was a beautiful woman, even at 45 she retained her looks. She kept her shoulder length blonde hair in a ponytail and wore her customary red lipstick. Even in her jeans and zip up hoodie she looked a bit glamourous. Maria often wondered if her aunt Rosie could have been a model even at her 45 years. Sometimes her uncle Obie (Obediah Stane) would come through, grab a bagel and his coffee and be off to work. He would always kiss aunt Rosie on the cheek and give Maria a kiss on the head. She wished she was uncle Obie’s daughter. Life would be so simple then. In truth she was Tony Stark’s daughter. When she was born (to a supermodel who quickly gave up custody to the playboy in exchange for a LARGE payout) it was agreed upon that for the safety of Maria she would be raised by Obadiah and his wife Rosie. Maria did not have her father’s brain or her birth mother’s looks. She had seen pictures from the internet of what her mother looked like, and she did not have that blown away model looks. She was a regular sixteen year old who was pretty, not beautiful.

Obadiah and Rosie Stane were more parents and in turn her “dad” Tony Stark, was more “uncle Dad”. No one knew that they were related. Maria liked in that way. They were ALL (Maria included) under agreement that anonymity was the best solution. Maria was the most insistent that no one knew. So the sixteen year girl grew up miles away from her father’s Malibu mansion in a sleepy town in Colorado. Not many people liked living in her small towns, but Maria did. She knew everyone and they knew her. She always knew which was east by looking out and seeing the mountains, she did fun things in school. She and aunt Rosie would take cooking classes together. Most of all she didn’t see the bacchanals that her father masquerade as parties. It wasn’t like she was in the dark, she couldn’t get on Instagram without it coming on her feed. Why would anyone want to let anyone know that Tony Stark with the life he led was related to them.

Her uncle Obie would be in California during the week for work but every night would call or Facetime home. Then every weekend he would come home and spend it with her and Rosie. Maria loved those weekends. She did see her father. They would sometimes go on trips or she would stay at his mansion in Malibu. Pepper would make sure she was comfortable and not all bored. She liked Pepper , she was always calm and in control, unlike her father.

Most girls would dream of having Tony Stark as father. You could go to any college, or become a Hollywood star with his connections. Maria had a credit card with no limit. If she wanted to go to Rodeo Dr. and shop for hours she could. Her room was bigger than her house in Colorado. Tony was nice enough, she called him dad out of respect but the thing she loved most about being in California was that she and Uncle Obie had lunch every day and he would show her around to where he worked. The only people outside of Tony, Obeidah and Rosie who knew of her existence were Uncle Rhodey and Pepper. The shareholders didn’t even know about her. Her friends believed that her father and mother died in a car crash. In fact Tony with all his computer skills put in a fake news story online, in case for whatever reason anyone ever had any questions. But who would question a tragic storyline of “my parents were killed by a drunk driver”.

She actually really loved her life and thought things turned out well, she loved her Uncle Obie and Aunt Rosie. They gave her a fantastic life. She thought aunt Rosie was amazing, she took classes all the time to keep her mind sharp, but would encourage Maria to take fun classes with her local rec department. Uncle Obie would take them camping during the summers. Sometimes her dad would tag along and it would turn into glamping then. That could be fun but then Tony would start to complain about “roughing” it or would freak out about a spider on his stuff so it would turn into a hassle.

_Flashback_

_Maria started the drive with her father into the mountains with Uncle Obie and Aunt Rosie behind them in their SUV hauling the tents, sleeping bags and camping gear. Aunt Rosie told her beforehand to sit with her father. She was sitting while he talked about the upcoming event her Uncle and him would be attending. He talked all about Vegas and maybe for her 16th birthday she would like to go, see a show- maybe gamble._

_“Dad, I’m 15. I can’t gamble. That’s illegal.” He looked at her quizzically, cocked his head and said. “Really? Someone REALLY dropped the ball in Monaco when I was 15.”_

_She chose her words but you knew he’d forget either way._

_“There is this hotel in Turkey I thought was cool. The Dreams Cave hotel. It looks like something out of a fairy land. There is this one room the Sultan’s Suite, it looked amazing.”_

_He gave Maria a look but then turned into the parking lot of the campsite. You saw a big camper. It was more like a tour bus. Her stomach sank with annoyance, Maria knew it was his._

_“We’re going glamping! I thought who would want to sleep outside on the ground? Let me show you the inside.”_

_Maria was thinking SHE liked sleeping outside but followed her father into the bus. Uncle Obie and Aunt Rosie pulled up, they gave her an apologetic look and followed her in._

_“There is a shower, fully stocked fridge, TV, internet reception, and look-beds.”_

_Maria gritted her teeth and said. “It’s great dad. What do you want to first? We can go on a hike or…..watch a movie.” She ended the sentence without hiding her annoyance._

_He looked at Maria almost sheepishly and said. “Why don’t you and Rosie enjoy this, me and Obadiah are gonna leave early for Vegas.”_

_Maria looked at her Uncle Obie. He took Maria outside the bus._

_“Maria-bug, I know you were looking forward to this, so was I but….”_

_“Uncle Obie, I know you had no choice, someone has to babysit him in Vegas.”_

_“No, he has an acceptance speech to practice.” Maria looked at her Uncle Obie.._

_“Uncle Obie, I know his reputation. That’s really code for sluts and alcohol.”_

_“Maria! You need to show respect he is your father.”_

_“No, uncle Obie, you are.”_

_He gave Maria a hug and a kiss on the head_

_“Your father is a good man, a confused man. To make you feel better, I know you are interested in aliens, how about me, you, and Aunt Rosie go to Roswell when the award show is done?”_

_Her smile almost split she face and she gave him the biggest hug._

_“Really Uncle Obie! This is will be way better than when you took me to Area 51! But I LOVED going down the Extraterrestrial Highway!”_

_In reality that weekend Rosie had someone from Stark Industries pick up the glamper. Then both of them went home._

_End of Flashback_

She really didn’t have a problem with her father as long as she could take him in small doses. Maria had no idea how Pepper stood him, she thought she must be a saint. In reality her father was the “fun Uncle” but he wasn’t her “Dad” that was Uncle Obie. She never thought about her biological mother, never even wanted to learn her name or see a picture. Aunt Rosie jarred her out of her thoughts by saying something.

“Your father is leaving today for Afghanistan. Did you call him?” Maria took a sip of her coffee and said. “He had that award last night, I tried calling him before but I think he was busy by then so I left a message. I even tried this morning but I think he’s already in the air and maybe didn’t get reception. He should be safe, I mean its just testing some products and morale for the troops right?” I

n truth Maria knew he was probably drunk by now like when she called at 7 pm the night before. She thought he’d would be fine, he’d be protected by the army-even though it was a war zone it was just a business trip.

\--

Maria was studying at the dining room table a couple of days later when Rosie answered a call from Obie, she could tell something was up. Rosie sat down across from her and said gently.

“Maria, I don’t want you to worry but you’re father’s Humvee was attacked and they don’t know where he is.They are searching for him.”

Maria sat back. Deep down she did love her dad, parents had that effect. No matter how bad they were you still loved them. She certainly didn’t want him to die. In Afghanistan. She didn’t know how he would handle himself. If he couldn’t go camping in Colorado, how could he deal with being in Afghanistan. Then she thought, What if he’s already dead?”

“What should I do? I can’t talk about this with anyone?” Rosie took her hand. Then said. “Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. I know this is hard to deal with when you are only 15. But Uncle Obie and I, were here for you. In fact, he’s coming home, he should be home in an hour.”

It was the longest hour of Maria’s young life When the door opened and Uncle Obie came in Maria ran to the door and threw herself at him. Uncle Obie stroked her hair.

“Maria-bug, everything will be fine. Don’t worry. We will always have each other, you, me and Aunt Rosie. The three musketeers. I’m fine, and Aunt Rosie is fine. We aren’t going anywhere. How about I’ll call your school tomorrow and get you out, it’s a Friday, and we will start that Roswell vacation early to get your mind off things.”

Maria looked up at him.

“Really?”

He smiled down at her.

“Go upstairs, I already talked about with aunt Rosie. Go start packing. I know you like greasy spoons and I heard there is one with a name Rusty Spatula or something. They claim to be the spot of an alien abduction.”

“REALLY? Ok, I’m gonna google it and start packing! Thank you Uncle Obie, you’re the best.”

You actually smiled going up the stairs, no matter what you had parents. They may not be blood, but they were definitely family.


End file.
